Failing economy forced Mubarak’s hand as much as protests

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Demonstrators protest while President Mubarak makes a televised addressReuters

James HiderCairo

Last updated at 5:01PM, February 11 2011

Facing an unprecedented challenge to his rule from his own people, President
Mubarak played a waiting game to see if the stamina he developed in 30 years
at the helm could outlast the staying power of the masses demanding his
downfall.

For days, he appeared indifferent to public pressure and international demands
for serious reform. But there was one factor that he could not ignore and
which eventually played a massive part in his downfall as president: Egypt’s
economy.

Until recently, it had been a solid force for stability in the region, but it
is in freefall, plagued by capital